In the manufacture of semiconductor integrated circuits, chips are placed on heated bases at some time in the manufacturing process. A heat absorbing cover is placed over the chip, sealing the chip from damage causing dust. Many of these steps call for baking, to drive off volatile gases from the glues, for example. Currently, the industry uses batch processing to accomplish the baking steps. Bases are placed on metal trays and placed in an oven for a set period of time. When the baking is finished, the trays are removed and the next processing step can proceed.
Many steps in the production of completed chips on bases are done using assembly line techniques, and the industry is beginning to use robotics to automate the process. However, the baking steps are still done using batch processing, which interrupts the assembly line flow of products. The baking step must wait until enough bases are accumulated from the prior step. The succeeding step must wait until the baking is completed. Since the baking step can take thirty or more minutes, the interruption in assembly line flow can be a serious problem.
A second problem associated with batch processing is that humans must handle the chips. This introduces particulate matter which can ruin a chip. Every effort is made to keep the chips clean during processing. Clean rooms keep out much of the dirt and dust, and chips are washed regularly with solvent. Yet, an excessive number of chips are still ruined by the effects of particles. Replacing the batch processing of chips during the baking steps involving bases by an assembly line technique would reduce the number of times the chips are handled.
It is accordingly, an object of the present invention to produce an oven that continuously processes semiconductor chips and their bases.
It is a further object of the invention to produce an oven that is compact, efficient, and inexpensive.